Monday, 1 October 2012

Jesus and Life in the Hoodie

Young people and church
How often do we see young people in our rural churches? Has
anyone asked the question – where are our young people on a Sunday
morning? While we’re engaging with children in our family services, our
adults and seniors in the standard Eucharist services, there is a very
definite gap in our congregations that is left by the absence of
teenagers. This is probably an age-old conundrum but I’d like to raise
the question again and perhaps make some suggestions (again – this may
not be news to us but it’s always worth revisiting). You
may have seen a few of the youth group members during Eucharist services
on previous occasions. When we’re asked to help it normally involves us
doing something that would ordinarily involve an adult such as a
reading, leading the intercessions. I would like to ask a question. By
including the young people in a traditional service whose structure and
content many of them aren’t familiar with, singing hymns written a
hundred years ago or more and generally conforming to a liturgy that is
somewhat alien to the teenage newcomer, do we genuinely believe that we
are actually catering to their spiritual needs? The proof may be seen
in the fact that, aside from the odd occasion when we are invited to
participate in a service, teenagers are generally absent from our
churches.

My leaders and I decided to address this at Youth one week. We did
an activity where they were asked how they perceive the church. This
involved having a list of 9 descriptions and a blank piece of paper
where they could add to the list. The following were the descriptors:

A beacon for the community – demonstrating people who are salt and light of the world

The Sacraments – the altar, the bread, the wine, liturgy and hymns

A refuge – shelter in the storm of change where like-minded people feel safe

A heritage site – a place where historic and significant virtues of a past culture can be celebrated and preserved

A health centre – where people go to stay healthy and where they
gain what they need to continue to live productive lives in the
community

A nursing home – a place to which people turn to see out their days, or for respite in an atmosphere of love and care

A place of education – to learn about God, the Gospel and how to live a life that Jesus would want

A gathering of people – a fellowship of mutual care and
encouragement: an open place that welcomes people of all ages,
ethnicity, sexuality, etc.

The means by which a group of people can meet the needs of communities near and far through fundraising and social action.

Next to each description was a saucer. They were then given 10
marbles of the same colour and had to vote on which descriptions most
accurately reflected their perception of the church as it is today.
They could put all marbles in one or distribute them around several, or
put one in each saucer. Most of them saw church as a refuge (3), a
heritage site (4) and a place where you learn about God (7). We asked
if it appealed to them as it stands. They indicated that they liked
parts of it but not all of it. So we asked them to suggest how they
would like church to be – and using a different coloured set of marbles
each had to vote with their 10 again. At the end of the exercise the
marbles were counted. The overwhelming response was for it to be a
gathering of people of all ages, backgrounds, gender, race and sexuality
(8). Furthermore they said they wanted a safe space where they could
explore their doubts without fear, and a quiet place where they could
reflect on the week (a combination of 3 and some of their own ideas).
The fact of the matter is that they do not perceive the church today to
be a place they want to attend. Many even stated that they believe that
what we do at Youth is their “church” because it is their safe space
where they can just ‘be’. It was quite flattering for us leaders, but
we were anxious for them to experience something a little closer to what
they wanted church to be; for them to create it, lead it and
participate in.

Youth vote using marbles on what church is

What we eventually did a couple of weeks later was create a church
service where they had free reign over the content. It became a sort of
“open mic night”. Members brought poems, readings, and songs. Some
had a Christian content while others were more about life and where that
particular teen was in their journey. We sat around in an informal
style with drinks and snacks, discussed topics. The leaders filled the
gaps and used multimedia to make them think about life, God and their
spirituality. We watched a popular teaching video from a popular Bible
teacher called Rob Bell. The DVD lasted 10 minutes and had discussion
questions afterward. They could discuss them there in groups or take
the questions home and ponder on them in their own time. There were
Bible verses to share and at the end we put on some meditative music
and, with post-it notes and pens/crayons, posted our prayers on our
tables and on a prayer wall, a bit like graffiti. Parents were
invited. Most hung out at the back so as not to “cramp their kid’s
style”, but the teens seemed to be quite comfortable with their
presence. It was their church on their terms with their stuff going
on. We were staggered by its success. We were also inspired and
encouraged by what we learned from the teens – and what they were
willing to contribute. One girl sat in the middle of the room with her
guitar and sang a Mumford & Sons song called “Roll Away Your
Stone”. Her courage to do that still inspires me today, not to mention
the brilliance of her voice.

Something I discussed during my Authorised Lay Ministry training was
about noise and ‘visual’ noise and how this affects the way young people
approach the world. In this world we are surrounded by noise, images
and ‘stuff’ all day, every day, and young people in particular
experience this perhaps more than most. They also live with a lot of
expectation from school, peers, parents, and tv etc. And so my question
is: do we, as a church, also put on them expectations of conformity to a
way of doing things and ‘being’ that may not appeal? Is it any wonder
that the kind of church that appeals to them is one that gives them the
freedom to explore things on their terms without fear of rejection? Is
it any wonder that amid a busy, noisy world they crave a sacred space
that gives them time to reflect? The experiment was fascinating to
observe, and was very thought-provoking for us as youth leaders, as was
the open mic night that occurred as a result of the experiment. I know
that Church as a refuge already exists, and one clergy, in a sermon
recently, used the metaphor of an oasis in the wilderness – but how much
of what we do meets the needs of a select group of people rather than
appealing to a generation whose need for a sacred space often takes them
elsewhere rather than the one established place they should be able to
find it – i.e. our Sunday morning services?

This is not to suggest that we ditch the old ways (and perhaps this
is quite radical) but I believe in a church that opens its arms to
everyone and a Gospel that actively looks for those on the periphery
rather than stands and waits for them to come to us. Furthermore, it
isn’t a job simply for a select few people who are gifted at
communicating with young people and have the time and energy to hold
open mic nights. It’s a responsibility we all have, as God’s beloved,
to reach out to all people – and not just on Sundays but every single
day of the week, meeting them where they are. We need to leave our
comfort zones, the way Christ did by spending time with prostitutes, the
downtrodden and the despised.

Underneath the hoodie lurks a passionate, loving soul who wants to be
loved and appreciated for who they are and where they’re at in the
journey. So stop trying to bring them into the framework of a
traditional church setup that is often alien and uninviting to them and
let them discover a loving God through building a bridge to them. This
may mean rethinking what we believe “church” is – when it happens, what
it looks like, how we play a part in it. Let’s start with reminding
ourselves that Christ calls it His “Bride” and go from there. It begins
with love and compassion.